You are here

OpenMarket: August 2018

In March, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals killed the Obama administration’s “fiduciary rule,” a prime example of the “bureaucrats know best” type of regulation that tries to override individual choice. The rule was based on the false premise that most holders of 401(k) and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) lacked the ability, in the regulators’ words in the proposed regulation, to “prudently manage retirement assets on their own” and “distinguish … good investment results from bad.”

The Department of Interior recently announced proposed revisions to enforcement of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These revisions are designed to lessen the regulatory burdens of this ineffective and outdated piece of legislation. The Endangered Species Act was passed almost 45 years ago in 1973. It was inspired by the environmentalism of the 1960s-70s and the growing fear that certain animals were facing extinction due to human impact on the natural world. Environmentalists defend the ESA with the assertion that its regulations are saving species, but it just takes time.

Social media outlets have been filled with commentary this week about the decisions by Apple, Facebook, YouTube, and Spotify to remove content created by talk show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. This is a useful opportunity to clarify what actually counts as “censorship” and what responsibilities that media platforms have to the public.

Private-sector workers in states without right to work laws can still be forced to pay fees to a union they vehemently disagree with, even as their public sector counterparts were freed from paying forced union dues by the Supreme Court in June.

The big regulatory news is a proposed loosening of fuel economy standards for cars. This will likely improve safety; lighter cars don’t hold up as well in crashes, and the government has admitted in court that its CAFE standards kill people. Better for people to find their own preferred tradeoffs between safety and other car features. Meanwhile, the number of new final regulations in 2018 will likely pass the 2,000 mark this week, with the newest entrants ranging from giving to charity to Sri Lankan tarantulas.

New Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on August 2nd his government was filing suit in Ontario’s Court of Appeal challenging the Canadian federal government’s constitutional authority to require the provinces to enact taxes on carbon dioxide emissions. Ontario joined another suit brought by Saskatchewan in its provincial court last month. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said that his government would consider joining Ontario’s suit.

A massive green energy and climate bill passed by the Massachusetts Senate was scaled back considerably in negotiations with the House before being passed this week on the final day of the legislative session. The bill now goes to Republican Governor Charles Baker for signing into law.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on August 2nd proposed to revise Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and carbon dioxide tailpipe standards for model year 2021-2025 motor vehicles, and set new standards for model year 2026 vehicles.

The July 31 policy statement by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announcing that it will now grant “special purpose national bank charters” to non-depository financial services firms is likely a game-changer for fintech in the U.S. This is because case law stemming from the Supreme Court’s decision in Marquette National Bank of Minneapolis v. First of Omaha Service Corp has established that any firm deemed a “national bank” by the OCC is exempt from interest rate caps outside of the state where it is domiciled.